Welding segments



June 23,1931. 1-1. s. HOLMES WELDING snsmams Filed Jan. 22:5. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Snownboz I fYk/VR/J Emu/v1 June 23, 1931.

H. S. HOLMES WELDING sseusms 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 23. 1929 Elnoemtoc fiZ'Nm J 1561.014).

381 i? fla feet. The vibration caused by the jolt of the Patented June 23, '1931 PATENT OFFICE UNITED STATES my 8. HOLMES, ,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY ASSIGNMENTS, "10

COMPANY OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. A. CORPORA- EETBDPOLITAN ENGINEERING I.ION Q1 .NEW YORK WELDING sEoMEn'rs' Application filed Janna-123, 1929. sem -no. 334,379.

1 In prior patents there are described apparatus and methods for electrically welding the segments of a hollow object. See for example Murray Patents Nos. 1,333,274 of secure a perfect register of the edges and to maintain the register during the entire operation so that the resulting oint willbe perpassing current and the pressure of the seg- -ments toward each other tends to throw the edges out of line. I

In the present invention the edges are braced or steadied by internal means which i are permanently united to the segments.

V bodiments of the invention.

The accompanying drawings illustrate em- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of two segments of a hollow structural member before weld- F ig. 2 is a similar view after welding; Fig. 3 is an end view of the welding operation' i Fig. 4 is a side elevation of two segments of an axle housing;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the v internal braces;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line of Fig. 4 with the electrodes applied;

7 is a similar section of the'finished housing. v

The segments of Fig.1 are stamped and bent from thinsheet metal to form central portions '1 and side portions 2, the edges of p which are to be butt welded by a resistance method such as that of Murray Reissue Patout No. 15,466 of October 10, 1922, by the passage of current of extremely high amperage for a brief period. of time. It is this current chiefly whichtends to vibrate the free edges of the segments and to leave them out of alignment when the weld is completed.

To rigidify andhold the edges in position a during the welding, I provide internal stifleners at'i'ntervals, such as the straps shown with .ortions3 as near the edges as possible, allowing for a certain take-upof metal, connected by an intermediate portion 4-. These straps are fixed in .place within the segments as for example by spot. welds 5 and 6.

The stifi'eners should not cross the line of the weld.- If the ends-of the opposite. stifieners were brought into contact even toward the end of the welding operation, they would stifieners 3 to hold the edges ri id. With structural members like that of ig. 2 the stiffeners are set at the ends where there is provide a short circuit path for the current, v

assed, the metaltakenup is the greatest tendency to vibration and, ac-

cording to the length of the product, at suitably spaced intermediate points. The portions 3 of the stifieners would alone serve the purpose, but their application in proper position is facilitated by making them the ends of. a strap connected by the intermediate vportion '4 which is-al so welded to the seg ment.

The axle housing segments of Fig. 4. comprise tubular end portions 11 bent out at the centre to form annular ortions- 12. The stiffening is required chie, y at the freeinner ends of the tubular portion at the transverse circular openin In that case I propose to use stifl'eners o the annular shape shown in- Fig. 5 with side portions 13 anda connecting peripheral portion 14;. The side p'ortions'are spot weldedas at 15 to the inside of 'the segments.

When the electrodes are applied (Fig. 6) the edge portions 11 ofthe segments are embraced by the electrodes 16 and 17 and stifiened on the inside by the sides 13 of the stifiener's. The finished product with the extruded fins removed is illustrated in Fig. 7. The articles manufactured by this process have not only the advantage of accurate registration of the thin edges at the 'oint, but have also the advantage of being raced by the internal stifieners against the strains of use.

The stifl'eners, being united to the shell, assist 9 the latter in taking up and distributing any external stresses applied.

Various modifications may be made. by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

1. The method of making a hollow article of sheet metal segments which consists in first applying and uniting stifi'eners to the inside of the segments near their edges, then assembling and pressing the edges of said segments together between electrodes and passing a Welding current.

2. The method of making a hollow article of sheet metal segments which consists in first applying and uniting stifi'eners to the inside of the segments near their edges, then assembling the segments between electrodes embracing the same and extending nearly to their edges and pressing the parts together while passing a welding current between the electrodes and across the joint.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

HENRY S. HOLMES. 

